There must be a new rule in the tourer market segment where “all new bikes” consist of minor revisions to existing machines, as Honda has apparently taken a page out of Harley-Davidson’s playbook, and done an exciting upgrade to the 2012 Honda Goldwing. While rumors were overly-hyped that an all-new Goldwing would be making an American appearance, it appears instead that the Honda engineers have gone on to further improve upon their design of the legendary touring motorcycle.

No longer built in America at Honda’s now defunct Marysville, Ohio plant, the Japanese produced 2012 Honda Goldwing comes with a slightly larger price tag, but boasts some improvements to justify the cost. Revamped bodywork, larger capacity luggage pieces, improved built-in GPS with iPod/MP3 player support, and revised suspension complete the changes for the new Goldwing. It’s hard to impress sport bike guys with a big bike like the Honda Goldwing, but if you’re interested in buying the gold standard (no pun intended) of motorcycle touring, things just got a bit more appealing we imagine.

After first making the 2011 Aprilia Dorsoduro 1200′s owner’s manual available to Aprilia owners, then showing a photo of the Dorsoduro 1200 during Piaggio’s HQ launch in Milan, along with a subsequent video, Aprilia is now ready to officially tell us about its 2011 Aprilia Dorsoduro 1200. Available with Aprilia Traction Control (ATC) and anti-lock brakes (ABS) as an option, the Dorsoduro 1200 makes 130hp and 83 lbs•ft of torque with its 492lbs curb weight (a figure Aprilia conveniently leaves out of its press release). The maximoto to the Shiver’s street-naked, the Aprilia’s 1197cc liquid-cooled platform is under-powered and over-weight when compared to the other bikes in the 1200cc category.

While Aprilia positions the Dorsoduro as a maximotard, we’re not sure how the lack of umpf and extra heft will go over with the sporty crowd. With rumors of a Shiver 1200 still circling about, and an early glimpse of the Tuono V4R already showing a 162hp machine, we’re still not sure how this 1200cc street-only motard fits into Aprilia’s model line-up, and how it will differentiate itself to potential buyers.

Ducati has updated the Monster 1100, giving it the EVO treatment, which brings with it +5hp on top (for a total of 100hp), while keep torque at 76 lbs•ft. The 2011 Ducati Monster 1100 EVO also benefits from Ducati’s electronics package, which now includes standard ABS, Ducati Traction Control (DTC), and Ducati Data Acquisition (DDA) as standard OEM equipment.

Fitted with a two-canister side exhaust (you can debate if this is being channeled from the Diavel or the Streetfighter), the Monster 1100 EVO tips the scales at 373lbs, 4lbs less than the 2010 Monster 1100 ABS. In addition to these goodies, Ducati has also revised the sitting position by adding a new seat and a 20mm higher bar-riser, there’s some nice rally stripes thrown into the mix.

Diehard Ducati fans will be sad to hear the Monster 1100 EVO is fitted with the APTC wet clutch, making for smoother transmission work, but perhaps less Italian soul (this means the entire Monster line will now have wet clutches). Photos after the jump.

The 2011 Ducati Diavel has leaked ahead of its debut in a few hours at EICMA, showing us the final lines of Ducati’s performance cruiser. Performance is the key word here with the Ducati Diavel boasting features like: 162hp Testastretta 11º engine, 94 lbs•ft of torque, 456lbs (carbon) / 463lbs (base), radial brakes, ABS, traction control, ride-by-wire, and three riding modes. Other features include keyless ignition (as found on the Multistrada 1200), a split dash (as we revealed earlier), fold-up passenger pegs, and a carbon version of the Diavel (aptly named the Diavel Carbon) which sheds 7lbs of weight over the base model by adding carbon fiber body panels and forged Marchesini rims.

Do not adjust your computer screen, this not a revised version of the VFR1200F, nor is it the V4 adventure bike we expect Honda to debut next week, it’s not even the bastard love child from a CBR and a Cylon, it is in fact the brand new 2011 Honda CBR250R. A 250cc motorcycle for the rest of us, Honda hopes to snag new riders by offering a more practical street bike in the Japanese, European, Australian, and yes, even American markets later this spring.

Raising the bar a bit, the CBR250R comes with optional C-ABS brakes, which will like be mandatory in the European Union, if the EU Commission has anything to say about it. With performance figures coming in at 26hp and 17 lbs•ft of torque, the fuel-injected Honda CBR250R isn’t going to blow anyone out of the water, but that’s sort the point behind the quarter-liter bike, which should be more than capable of scooting around a young rider on city streets and back-road routes.

UPDATE: Ducati USA just sent us a larger version of the photo posted on Facebook (enhanced version above). Check out the key entry for the trunk under the tail, and how the tail lights extend past the tail section to function as turn signals as well.

Ducati has just released the first official images of the 2011 Ducati Diavel on its website and Facebook page, thus beginning the teasing process as we lead up to the EICMA show in Milan in three weeks (and confirming the name Diavel in the process). Showing the ass end of the power cruiser, we get our first good glimpse of the carbon tank on the Diavel (rumors are the Ducati Diavel will come in two trim levels). Ducati has also announced that the Diavel will sport ABS, Ducati Traction Contorl, multiple riding modes, and weigh 456lbs.

Ducati has also confirmed that the 2011 Ducati Diavel will use the Testastretta 11° engine found on the 2010 Ducati Multistrada 1200, but has coyly made no mention of power figures, leading us to take an educated guess that the “Devil” makes a bit more power than its sport-touring cousin.

Smaller details are starting to come out as well, as we see the frame will get some red paint (as inked-in earlier), along with a central racing stripe down the tank and tail. We’ve brightened up the close-up photo after the jump, but don’t expect to see anything more than some pieces from the Ducati parts bin.

While Suzuki didn’t bring any new models to the United States last year, the Japanese company seems set on making up for that cardinal sin this year, and is now confirming that the 2011 Suzuki GSX1250FA, the fully-faired Bandit, is coming to the USA. We had originally speculated that the 2011 Suzuki GSX1250FA would make an appearance eventually in the US, and it turns out we only had to wait 365 days for that to occur. Patience is a virtue, right?

Suzuki announced the American launch of the GSX1250FA at the 2010 Suzuki Dealer Meeting in Las Vegas this week, and expects the full fairing Bandit to hit dealer floors in January 2011. If you prefer your Bandits to have a little bit more modesty, and to be covered up more, we think we have the bike for you.

Finally breaking cover officially, the 2011 Kawasaki ZX-10R made its official debut at Intermot this week. For 2011, Kawasaki has taken a ground-up approach to building its liter-bike offering, and the Japanese company has its eye squarely on racing in World Superbike for 2011. Developing the race bike ahead of the street model, the new ZX-10R should prove to be a monster of a machine with its 197hp at the crank power figure (207hp with ram air) and 436.6lbs curb weight (+12lbs for ABS). However, for the US market the bike will get watered down by 10hp or so for emissions, which Kawasaki is quietly trying to downplay.

As we reported earlier when the 2011 Kawasaki ZX-10R leaked, Kawasaki like many other brands is bringing an optional ABS system to the sportbike genre, but Japanese firm has also brought a very sophisticated traction control system to the party, which will be a standard option. Taking measurements every 5 milliseconds from the front and rear tire pickups, throttle position sensor, engine speed, and other inputs, Kawasaki’s S-KTRC, according to the company, is the most advanced traction control system to-date in the consumer market. With pricing starting at $13,799 MSRP (+$1000 for ABS), we’d certainly hope it’s the most advanced sport bike on the market.

One of our astute readers here at Asphalt & Rubber pointed out in the comments section that hidden in the accessory photos on Triumph’s website, was a single shot that exposed the rear-wheel ABS pick-up on the 2011 Triumph Speed Triple. It’s no secret now that anti-lock braking systems are all the rage for street bikes, so it seems logical that Triumph would follow suit.

Now the real question remains whether the British brand will also field a traction control package, since TC systems often use these kind of sensors as well. Time will tell. Good eye Krylov!

Dubbed the Best Motorcycle of the 2009 EICMA show, the 2010 Ducati Multistrada 1200 S Touring has a lofty title that we’ve been itching to test since we saw the bike debut in Milan last year. While the new Multistrada 1200 comes in many flavors, we somehow managed to get our hands on the Multistrada 1200 S Touring version, or as we like to call it: “King Duc”. The Multistrada line has been Ducati’s attempt to be more than a sportbike-driven brand, and with this latest incarnation we can see that the Bologna-based company has taken a serious stab at making a go-anywhere GS-killer, with Italian style of course.

We were anxious to bring the Multistrada 1200 to our happy hunting grounds in Santa Barbara, CA where we had just recently test ridden the groundbreaking Honda VFR1200F a month back. Our adventures with the new Multi actually began with a very long and boring two-hour drive into Brea, CA on four wheels. Traveling on four wheels in Los Angeles is the stuff suicide notes are made of, and naturally the return trip from Brea was a more pleasurable experience for a certain test rider, than it was for one editor stuck in LA gridlock. Of course that didn’t stop me from having the pleasurable experience of becoming acquainted with the Multistrada 1200 in its natural territory, the open road.

Knowing the sporty nature of Ducati motorcycles (and the seemingly inverse relationship between sportiness and comfort), we were skeptical of how enjoyable the 150-mile ride back from Brea would be on the Ducati Multistrada 1200 S Touring. Suffering through the almost endless miles of parked cars on the highway that laid between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, I pulled over and sent the first text message back about the bike, “So much fun!!!!” it read, along with a picture of the Multistrada sitting on the side of dead-end road.